You're Beautiful To Me
by Romance Novel
Summary: Ava had always been a mystery to Max, but like all mysteries it was hard to stay away until the truth was uncovered. Max/OC. Companion piece to "That's Life."


Title: You're Beautiful To Me  
>Disclaimer: I don' t own Make it or Break it or the characters in this story. I would like to say I own Ava, but since she's semi-canon I can't exactly take full credit. I also don't own Goddamn You're Beautiful by Chester See.<p>

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><p><strong>Past<strong>

_Cause I get weak in the knees_  
><em>Fall head over heels baby<em>  
><em>And every other cheesy cliché<em>  
><em>Oh I'm swept off my feet<em>  
><em>My heart skips a beat<em>  
><em>But there's really only one thing to say<em>  
><em>Goddamn you're beautiful to me<em>  
><em>Oh you're everything that's beautiful to me<em>

For as long as Max had known Ava, she had always been a mystery to him.

Any time he spent a couple of hours at the Tucker household, when he was younger, he could count on Ava to tag along with whatever he and Austin were doing. Be it, video games or just sitting around talking about girls they wanted to hook up with. She was always there adding in her opinions that he never found as necessary. It was hard to get fully annoyed when Austin acted like she was the cutest thing ever all the time. He let her do whatever she wanted.

Once she hit puberty, Max may have possibly noticed her a little more. Some mornings after he spent the night, she would just walk into the kitchen in her tank top and shorts and he would check her out. Was that wrong? Probably. But as the years went on, his judgment got more clouded.

Eventually it pretty much disappeared and the sexual tension increased.

"Good, good." Max commented as he watched Ava on the beam. It was a late Friday night at the gym and he had somehow snuck away from the locker room before Austin was done in the shower to help Ava on her beam routine.

She did a couple awkward dance moves before flipping off of the beam and landing perfectly on her feet, arms in the air. He hesitated before clapping, which she seemed to take notice to with the way she turned to look at him. "I've worked on this routine nonstop this week. That landing was _perfect_." She snapped instantly.

He held his hands up in defense. "Calm down the landing was perfect, yes. It's just…" He trailed off.

"Just..?"

"Have fun. Your dancing was really tense." He started, scratching his neck a little. She rolled her eyes and hopped onto the beam. He sighed and took a step closer to her and the beam. "And smile when you land. It makes a difference." He gave her a small smile.

She looked down at him, seeming momentarily distracted by him. "I…smiled." She said simply, before focusing forward once again. She repeated her routine once again. How she got the stamina to train as hard as she did, he would never understand. She did the dancing slightly more loosely, but still stiff. When she landed, she smiled somewhat. It looked more forced than anything. "Better?" She asked, looking at him. "I smiled."

He let out a laugh and walked over to her. "If you can call that a smile."

"Good enough. All the judges care about is how well I performed. Me smiling isn't going to influence the score at all. Trust me." She stated, matter of factly.

"Yeah well, 'trust me' when I say that you look really pretty when you smile." He reached forward a tucked a strand of hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail behind her ear.

He felt her tense under his touch. "Max…" She whispered, closing her eyes as she turned her head away from him. His fingers trailed down her slender cheek and rested under her chin, pulling her head towards his. Aside from awkwardly hugging goodbye after he spent the night when they were younger, this was the contact they had ever had. Her resistance to his touch and his unconscious flirting only made him want to be closer to her for some reason.

"You're beautiful Ava." He whispered, waiting until she opened her eyes to look directly into them. He wanted her to fully grasp what he was saying.

She closed her eyes again. "Stop." She said softly.

"I mean it."

"I said stop." She said with more force as she got free from his hands. "I have to nail this routine if Denver Elite is even going to look at me and according to you, I'm not ready so…" She turned back towards the beam and stared at it intensely, as if she was trying to block him out entirely.

He made a face. "Did you not hear _anything_ I just said?"

"Yeah and you're lying, okay? Drop it." She said, her voice catching for a second.

It was in that second that he saw it: the pain, the self-hatred, everything. She looked tired and weak. There were slight bags under her eyes that were welling up. She tried to wipe them away with her bony fingers. How had he missed this?

He took another step towards her, his face sympathetic. "Ava, I'm so-"

"Sorry about that, man. Mom called, she wants you home for dinner Little Tuck." Austin called out as he left the locker room. Max cast a look at Ava, who was still staring at him. Tears were sliding silently down her face, but luckily her back was turned away from Austin. "…everything okay?" Austin said after a while.

Ava turned back towards the beam automatically, hopping back on. "I'm not hungry and I want to nail this before I leave tonight." She put her hands on her hips. Max just looked up at her, still not able to form sentences.

Austin shook his head. "Well Max and I are leaving right now and you don't have the car yet, so come on." He snapped his fingers impatiently, not seeming to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Max cleared his throat after a while. "We'll drop you off. It's cool." He said, trying to appear nonchalant.

"You heard the man." Austin said, as he pulled out his phone.

Ava hopped off of the beam and walked past the two of them, avoiding Max's gaze. She stormed into the locker room and reappeared a couple minutes later with her duffel bag. She didn't even bother to acknowledge them as she walked out the front door of the gym.

Austin smirked. "Someone's pissed." He said as he started heading towards the door himself. Max nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

…

17.50

She did it. Max grinned and clapped to himself as Austin sped out of the aisle, down the stairs, and over to Ava, enveloping her in a hug. She finally did it.

After the entire meet was done and everyone finished congratulating Ava and all of the other possible recruiters, Max approached her in the crowd. They hadn't spoken one on one since that night at the gym although it wasn't on purpose. They were both busy and to be honest he was kind of grateful for the space because he wasn't sure what to make of the discovery that night. All of that went away once she turned to face him and was actually glowing.

"Congrats, future Denver Elite gymnast." He said, grinning. He gave her a hug, holding on a little longer than necessary.

She pulled away first, but still had that glow. "You think so? I couldn't find them in the audience, but – "

"You were amazing." He interrupted. "They'd be idiots not to pick you."

She smiled wide at that and then let it slowly disappear. "I have to…do something really quick, but meet me out front in two minutes." She said, before sprinting off. He nodded and laughed a little before watching her head towards the bathroom. His smile fell, but he headed out front nonetheless.

The front parking lot was pretty empty when he got out there, but everyone was still inside. He had no idea where Austin or Mr. and Mrs. Tucker were, but he was sure they were off schmoozing about Ava to someone somewhere. Before he could even look around, he felt someone crash into him. Soon enough there were lips on his and an almost overwhelming taste of mint.

Ava.

He lowered his guard and kissed her back, bringing a hand up behind her head to steady them. To say he had never thought of what their first kiss would be like would be a lie, but he was still surprised that it was actually happening.

She pulled away after awhile, as always. It was as if she couldn't be close to someone for too long. Everyone except Austin. She looked down shyly, still smiling. "So…" She trailed off a little nervous.

"So, that was kissing Ava Tucker." He said, smirking. She hit his shoulder, but kept grinning. He hadn't seen her this happy in a long time. He started smiling himself.

"What?" She said, looking up at him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder comfortably.

He shook his head as he kept smiling. "Nothing, it's just…you look really happy."

She smiled. "I am happy. I feel on cloud nine right now." She said softly.

He stared at her, opening his mouth but then closing it. He opened it again. "You're beautiful."

Her smile slowly disappeared and he saw a glimmer of sadness before she replaced it with that forced smile he had seen before at the gym after she stuck her second landing in a row. "Just kiss me." She said, before leaning in and kissing him again. He rested his forehead on hers and kissed her again.

**Present**

_I can't find the words to explain_  
><em>Just how much you got me going insane<em>  
><em>When you speak to me sometimes we fight<em>  
><em>Oh I stutter my words; I say "never mind"<em>  
><em>Cause even when you just walk by<em>  
><em>Well I look around to seem occupied<em>  
><em>Cause I'm trying so hard to hide<em>  
><em>Yeah, all of these feelings inside<em>

"Austin…" Max murmured as he sleepily trying to turn off his alarm. It finally hit him that that noise wasn't his alarm. He rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, looking around his room. "Austin!" He called out before getting out of bed and pacing around his room.

"What?" Austin yelled as he entered the room. He had on all white with brown loafers and sunglasses. "Finally you get up. Get dressed, we have guests over."

"What's going on?" Max asked as he pulled on some jeans and looked around for a shirt. "It sounds like someone's getting attacked." He said groggily.

"Oh no, that's just people making cannonballs into the pool." Austin replied, resting his sunglasses up on his head. He paused. "Did you forget our party today? Celebrating the end of Worlds?"

Max found a shirt and slid it on. "Oh yeah. I guess I must've forgotten."

"Yeah well, I need you to make a run. We're out of ice for the margaritas."

"Okay." Max said simply before heading out of the room. He looked around at everyone mingling in their loft. He didn't even know half of these people.

As he headed into the kitchen and grabbed his keys from the counter, he heard someone gasp. "There you are!" He looked up to see Lauren smiling at up. She had a bikini on and a red cup in her hand. "I was starting to think Austin lied about you being here." She adjusted her bikini top and grinned up at him.

"Sorry, I overslept apparently." He said simply. The way that she laughed a little too loudly and kept inching towards him confirmed that she was pretty drunk. "I gotta go make an ice run though. Be back soon." He slid out from under her.

She pouted. "Do you need some company?" She called out to him.

He looked back at her as he kept walking. "No, I'm go-" He started as someone bumped into him. He looked forward and saw Ava bending down to grab her book that had most likely fallen during the collision. It took him a second to register. "I'm sorry." He went to bend down just as she stood back up.

"It's fine, just try and watch where…" She trailed off as she realized it was him. "Oh, hey." She said softly, clutching her book tighter against her chest.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her post rehab, but it was still hard coming to grasp with her being home after seven months. It was hard coming to grasp with everything that had happened. She had on a plain t shirt and jeans on and was arguably the most clothed person besides him there. He felt her shirt under his stare and he snapped out of it.

"Hey. I wasn't expecting to see you here." He said, awkwardly leaning in for a hug. She patted his back twice in response and then pulled away first. At least some things never changed.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to be here. There's not much a person can do when their older brother drags them out of bed and orders them to come here and 'get plastered'." She said, making lazy air quotes. "I'm not exactly doing too well at that last part though."

He laughed. "Well, I'm about to head to the grocery store for some more ice. Do you want to join me?" He said, failing at making the question sound casual and not awkward at all.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked, staring at him slightly suspicious.

He shrugged innocently. "Yeah." For a second, he saw a ghost of a smile. He turned around and headed with her out the front door and to his car.

…

"So how much ice are we getting?" Ava asked, looking over at him as they entered the frozen section of King Soopers.

He pushed the cast beside her. "A lot. Hopefully it doesn't melt." She opened the glass door to the ice and held it open as he pulled out a bag of ice and placed it into their cart. He picked up two more and looked over at her. "Good enough?"

She thought for a moment. "Maybe two more. Those kids looked thirsty." He nodded and grabbed two more before heading with her out of the aisle.

He pulled out his wallet as the cashier checked their cart. After he paid, he wheeled the cart beside her towards his car. "I can't believe I almost slept through a party. I didn't even go to sleep that late."

She smirked as she held onto the cart while he loaded the car. "Apparently you did."

"Okay, maybe I did. I just got wrapped up in my thoughts I guess." He said, before closing the trunk.

She looked up at him, nodding in agreement. "I know the feeling. My sleeping schedule is so messed up lately." She hesitated before continuing. "What were you thinking about?"

He looked over at her and tried to remember what it was that kept him up so late. "You." He said in epiphany.

"Ha ha." She said sarcastically. She pushed the cart out of her way and went over to the passenger seat.

He got into the driver's seat and closed the door before turning towards her. "I'm serious." He started as she pulled on her seatbelt, trying to ignore him. "Do you remember that one night when I was trying to help you out with your beam routine?"

"No." She said simply. She reached down and pulled out her book, placing it on her lap.

He reached over and grabbed the book, holding it away from her. "It was before your big meet in front of Denver Elite. The night we first kissed." She finally looked at him. "Your routine was perfect, but I told you that you needed to smile more and – "

"I remember." She said tiredly.

He sighed before continuing. "That was the night I found out about your eating disorder. I saw it in your eyes and the way that you pulled away when I called you beautiful. But I didn't say anything. Austin came in and I just lost my nerve to do anything." He looked down, getting frustrated.

There was a silence before she spoke. "You couldn't have done anything." She said softly. He looked up at her. "I would've lied or something if you tried to. I thought I was untouchable back then and I would've found a way to prove I was fine."

"But I didn't say _anything_." He repeated. "I knew and I never told anyone. You could've died Ava." He said, raising his voice slightly. It was all just hitting him right now.

She reached out and touched his arm, shaking her head. "Stop it. I was the one who messed up. Not you. You were…amazing."

He stared at her, feeling himself start to tear up. "I'm so sorry. For everything. Especially not visiting you in rehab."

She shook her head again. "I already told you, it's fine. I'm not mad at you."

Her words stuck with him. He had been beating himself up ever since he saw her at The Rock for the first time post-rehab and to see her look at him with no resentment or anything made him feel relief. As he looked at her, he saw how content she was. He knew inside she was still hurting and broken and lost, but she was looking at him enough peace in her eyes that he knew that she would be alright in the end.

She never looked more beautiful.

He felt himself lean in towards her and was surprised that she didn't pull away. He planted a deep peck onto her lips and paused before leaning in again. She reached her hands up to the side of his face and pecked him back before resting her forehead again his. He closed his eyes and looked down.

It would be so easy to just forget everything and get back to this. Whatever they had going on before the truth came out. He wanted to figure it out so badly, but there was Payson. And Lauren. He was way in too deep with too many girls right now and he didn't want to drag Ava into that.

He pulled away and looked at her. "Ava…"

"Don't worry. I get it." She replied softly, that familiar tinge of sadness in her voice. It was as if she could read his mind.

He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and back towards the party feeling more confused as ever. One thing was very clear however: he still wanted Ava Tucker. Maybe he never stopped.

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><p><strong>AN**: So I'm kind of obsessed with these two at the moment and I wanted to fix them a little. The present part is supposed to be after Ava visited The Rock and saw Max and Payson. Max suddenly got consumed with guilt for everything after seeing her again. Did I portray that correctly?

Also, I think Nina Dobrev is who I imagine as Ava for sure. And coincidentally, she's doing the Perks of Being a Wallflower movie with, you guessed it, Zane Holtz. They're playing siblings. How trippy is that? I just found that out yesterday.

SPOILER ALERT: I chose to ignore the Max-bisexuality storyline in this obviously. It was way too random. Plus, it'd be him being attracted to both of the Tucker siblings and I just didn't even want to touch that. I'm interested to hear anyone's thoughts on that though. And just this fic in general ;) Enjoy!


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